Solid Waste Management

in Kathmandu City, Nepal

Rabin Man Shrestha

Chief, Environment Mgt. Department
Map of
Kathmandu Metropolitian City
Environment Management Department
• One division – Environment Division
• Four sections:
- Solid waste management Section
- Landfill site Management Section
- Parks and greenery promotion
section
- Mechanical section
Generation & Collection of KMC
• Waste Generation 0.3 kg/p/day
• Total domestic waste gen. App. 246 ton/day
Others
• Commercial waste (12%)app. 30 ton/day

• Street Waste (12%) app. 30 ton/day

• Waste from VDC (12%) 30 ton/day

• Total Generation 335 ton/day
• Collection 306 ton/day
About 70% waste are organic
 Waste Composition
Inert Materials
Glass
4.33%
Metal 2.50%
Textiles 0.92% Leather
3.02% 0.12%
Rubber
0.54%
Paper
8.51%

Plastic
9.18%

Organic
70.87%
Current Situation of SWM in
Kathmandu
Collection and Transportation
Sweepers: 1018 for daily
sweeping
Waste at Roadside or in a
private container are picked up
by KMC or private sector
operators and transported to
Teku Transfer Station
81 units (tipper, tractor, Road sweeping
etc.)- for primary collection and
25 units (17 roll of tippers
(donated by Japanese
Government, 7 multi compactor
donated by Indian Government
and 1 container) for secondary
transportation

New vehicles
 Where are We Today?
• Municipalities are completely responsible
• Some new approaches are being tried out
in KMC
– Door-to-door collection
– User fees
– Source-separated collection
– Composting
– Private sector participation
• “Landfilling” on the banks of Bagmati has
stopped since the operation of Sisdol
Landfill Site from June 5
• Preparation of Action Plan 2004-2015
(CKV)
Waste collection vehicles

Tractors

Tipper

Mini-Compactor Need to replace

 Newly Constructed by Japanese
government – direct loading
system 2005

Teku Transfer station

 Solid Waste Minimization-
- Composting: household composting using bins
community composting
vermi-composting
- Recyclable materials are collected from
households, commercial premises, restaurants, etc
by recycle hawkers and sold to recycling dealers so
called “kabadi”

- Altogether there are 30 to 35 groups of waste

pickers in the KMC, who are working mainly at Teku

- Establishment of a community recycling center has

been encouraged by KMC at ward no. 21
Composting

Compost bin Vermi-composting

Final disposal
• Opened on 5 June 2005
sisdol landfill site valley 1
( technical and financial
support by Japanese
government through JICA)
• Daily Waste transfer from
KMC & LSMC 300-350
ton/day
• Operation of sisdole Landfill
site-valley 2
• Development of a Long Term
SLFS
• Appropriate closure of used
landfill Site
Operation Flow at Landfill site
Weighing by weighbridge Unloading Waste

Spreading
Waste

Soil Covering
Landfill site management vehicles

Compactor (7 tons) – 7 nos Roll Of Truck (7 tons) – 17 nos.

Komatsu Dozer Sheep Footed Compactor

Social Aspect -
- Waste collection service: 89% household
Majority having knowledge about waste separation
- 41% of respondent have positive attitude
towards making compost
- KMC realizes that community participation is
the key improvement of the urban environment,
after the establishment of CMU
- NGOs/CBOs have been involved in various
SWM activities including collection services,
awareness, and 3R activities
Financial Aspect –
KMC spends about Rs 17 million for SWM services,
which represents 30-35% of total municipal
expenditure

SWM cost : street sweeping cost and personnel cost

Mass Education

Public awareness program

Managerial Aspect -
Solid Waste Management Section
Mechanical Section and
Landfill site management section under the
Environment Department are managing the
solid waste generated within KMC.
KMC is the only municipality in Nepal which
have a mandate to comprehensively address
various aspects of SWM
Total number of staff SWM:1,299 staffs about 60%
of overall municipal staff

Organization Strengthening and Institutional

Arrangements
– Capacity building of staffs (trainings, studies, and
participating in national and international
programmes)
– Appropriate staffing Arrangement
– Preparation of Short and Long Term Action Plans
(Each year Department prepare a action plan)
 Our Challenges
• Attitude of throw & forget
• Transportation – long distance, old vehicles and
heavy equipments
• Lack of Training
• Need of well equipped equipments and workshop
• Only one landfill site and transfer station
• Lack of manpower
• No appropriate laws & policies
• Lack of awareness
• Low composting efficiency in households
• Public and political intervention
 KMC’s commitment for future programs
related to environmental aspects by
2010
Waste management sector:
• Improvement of transportation and collection system
• Selection and construction of more transfer stations and landfill
site
• Promotion of Public participation and behavior change by
establishment of more nature clubs, more training programs and
regularly interaction with locals
• Conduct a media campaign for waste segregation at source
• Lobbing for tax exception for recycling materials
• Management and Implementation of community based clean
up programs (like streets clean up, community parks, historical
places, temples, river clean up programs)
• Promotion of household composting programs providing compost
bins and bags at 45% subsidy rate
• About 5000 compost bins will be distributed till 2010
• Cooperation with central government to proceed establishment
of long term landfill site
KMC’s commitment for future
programs related to environmental
aspects by 2010
• Expansion of more community based recycling center and
medium scale vermi-composting
• Promotion of biogas technology from vegetable wastes,
night soil waste with the technical and financial assistance
from UN Habitat
• Mobilize school children and local communities for
environmental activities
• Provide training and assistance to community groups
interested in environmental protection
• Mobilization of youth city volunteers as a linkage between
KMC and citizens in environmental campaign
• Plantation program: about 3000 trees will be planted till
2010 in Kathmandu City
• Assist locals in marketing of recycled products and provide
forums for recycling industries to display a raising of public
awareness programs through mass media: message board,
exhibition, metro FM and National Television and promote
their products
KMC’s commitment for future
programs related to environmental
aspects by 2010 -Policies
• Assisting MoLD in preparation of New
SWM Act and National SWM Guidelines
(Under preparation at MoLD)
• Implementing KMC’s Public Private
Partnership Guidelines (PPPUE/UNDP)
• Partnership with a NGO, UN-habitat in
preparation of Rain Water Harvesting
(RWH) Bi-laws
• Enforcing sanitation bi-laws
 Impacts
• The PPP in SWM has reached 35% in collection
and transportation
• More than 40% of people are paying for SWM
services to private sectors
• Public toilets are rehabilitated and new city service
centers are constructed in PPP approach and
mobile toilets are under construction to address
urban sanitation problem
• All newly constructed buildings have septic tanks
to address urban sanitation problems (40% of
buildings have septic tanks)
• After formulation and enforcement of RWH bi-laws
all newly constructed buildings will have a RWH
systems to address the water shortage problem
and ground water recharge
• Working with donor to prepare policy papers on-
Public toilet, waste water management,
Thank you